- Impact
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Over the last 20+ years, I tried just about everything under the sun when it comes to registrars, hosting, selling venues, monetization, etc. For a long time, my best option for features, and price for a registrar was GoDaddy (with DDC membership) and selling almost exclusively on Afternic.
@Dynadot had been my second choice for many years, and I would keep some extensions there because of the large price difference. After reading some other posts on here, I decided to really look more closely at all the features Dynadot has added and see how they compare.
It will take me 8-12 months to switch most of my domains over, but as renewals come up, I am transferring to Dynadot. Sorry GoDaddy!
What I like about Dynadot, and some comparisons with GoDaddy:
User interface:
Dynadot has very clean, easily navigable pages and decent tools to bulk manage domain names. I am used to GoDaddy, so it isn't very difficult, but it seems clunky in comparison and the new beta version scared me to death and messed up my columns even when I switched back.
Pricing:
With DDC, the extensions I focus on, and the number of domains in my portfolio, GoDaddy is actually a little less expensive for me overall then the bulk pricing at Dynadot, I will be close to "super bulk" pricing which would make it about the same or a slight savings. But, even for a few pennies more, I feel like Dynadot is still the better deal.
Support:
Basic support compared to basic support, Dynadot had more knowledgeable and helpful folks in my opinion. I do have an account exec at GoDaddy, and the reps here in the forum go over and above in supporting the community. I will have to see if I get similar treatment with the same spend at Dynadot. It sounds like they have account execs as well if you meet a certain threshold.
Selling names:
Dynadot has easy integration with both Afternic and Sedo MLS programs that you can manage through your domain manager, whereas GoDaddy is exclusive to Afternic. Adding to Afternic can be a little more problematic than from GoDaddy, but is workable. You can also list on the Dynadot marketplace from your control panel and use a sales lander if you choose. Dynadot is offering a 5% commission deal compared to at least 15% on Afternic. (Sample Lander) The money goes into an account credit, which they say you can withdraw, so I will have to see how many steps that takes to accomplish, and whether the GoDaddy name on the landers really added that much value.
Managing DNS:
There are a lot of options for managing DNS and it is easy to add the verification nameserver for Afternic, or the TXT record for Sedo. I usually just use the Dynadot nameservers for the text verification at Sedo and then set my regular nameservers once verified. The choices for DNS include:
Nameservers
Dynadot Parking (Haven't tried this yet)
Dynadot Forwarding
Stealth Forwarding
Dynadot DNS
For Sale Lander
Free Websites:
Dynadot allows you to create a free (limited function) one page website using their own web builder. Nice for making your own landing pages and adding some affiliate links. (Sample 1, Sample 2) . You can make a multi page site or e-commerce site, and add some extra features for $20 per year per domain. If they had an unlimited domain plan for this, I might be interested, otherwise, shared hosting is more cost effective for a bunch of small sites. Of course, GoDaddy does hosting and has a decent web builder, but once your free trial is up, the costs are much more expensive.
Auctions:
GoDaddy has a huge marketplace and auctions they also have the most competition. Dynadot has a smaller marketplace and auction, but less competition. I will still shop both.
Conclusion:
I feel like Dynadot has developed a much more robust, domainer friendly platform. GoDaddy will still be my second choice going forward and I will of course use their expired auctions. I will pay more now at GoDaddy for my auction wins without the DDC membership, but overall I believe I can save more on commissions, and generate more revenue on idle names.
I will keep an eye on my numbers, but I feel like this is going to be a good move for my portfolio and have spent a lot of time contemplating the move.
Is there anything I missed? Any negatives I am not seeing?
@Dynadot had been my second choice for many years, and I would keep some extensions there because of the large price difference. After reading some other posts on here, I decided to really look more closely at all the features Dynadot has added and see how they compare.
It will take me 8-12 months to switch most of my domains over, but as renewals come up, I am transferring to Dynadot. Sorry GoDaddy!
What I like about Dynadot, and some comparisons with GoDaddy:
User interface:
Dynadot has very clean, easily navigable pages and decent tools to bulk manage domain names. I am used to GoDaddy, so it isn't very difficult, but it seems clunky in comparison and the new beta version scared me to death and messed up my columns even when I switched back.
Pricing:
With DDC, the extensions I focus on, and the number of domains in my portfolio, GoDaddy is actually a little less expensive for me overall then the bulk pricing at Dynadot, I will be close to "super bulk" pricing which would make it about the same or a slight savings. But, even for a few pennies more, I feel like Dynadot is still the better deal.
Support:
Basic support compared to basic support, Dynadot had more knowledgeable and helpful folks in my opinion. I do have an account exec at GoDaddy, and the reps here in the forum go over and above in supporting the community. I will have to see if I get similar treatment with the same spend at Dynadot. It sounds like they have account execs as well if you meet a certain threshold.
Selling names:
Dynadot has easy integration with both Afternic and Sedo MLS programs that you can manage through your domain manager, whereas GoDaddy is exclusive to Afternic. Adding to Afternic can be a little more problematic than from GoDaddy, but is workable. You can also list on the Dynadot marketplace from your control panel and use a sales lander if you choose. Dynadot is offering a 5% commission deal compared to at least 15% on Afternic. (Sample Lander) The money goes into an account credit, which they say you can withdraw, so I will have to see how many steps that takes to accomplish, and whether the GoDaddy name on the landers really added that much value.
Managing DNS:
There are a lot of options for managing DNS and it is easy to add the verification nameserver for Afternic, or the TXT record for Sedo. I usually just use the Dynadot nameservers for the text verification at Sedo and then set my regular nameservers once verified. The choices for DNS include:
Nameservers
Dynadot Parking (Haven't tried this yet)
Dynadot Forwarding
Stealth Forwarding
Dynadot DNS
For Sale Lander
Free Websites:
Dynadot allows you to create a free (limited function) one page website using their own web builder. Nice for making your own landing pages and adding some affiliate links. (Sample 1, Sample 2) . You can make a multi page site or e-commerce site, and add some extra features for $20 per year per domain. If they had an unlimited domain plan for this, I might be interested, otherwise, shared hosting is more cost effective for a bunch of small sites. Of course, GoDaddy does hosting and has a decent web builder, but once your free trial is up, the costs are much more expensive.
Auctions:
GoDaddy has a huge marketplace and auctions they also have the most competition. Dynadot has a smaller marketplace and auction, but less competition. I will still shop both.
Conclusion:
I feel like Dynadot has developed a much more robust, domainer friendly platform. GoDaddy will still be my second choice going forward and I will of course use their expired auctions. I will pay more now at GoDaddy for my auction wins without the DDC membership, but overall I believe I can save more on commissions, and generate more revenue on idle names.
I will keep an eye on my numbers, but I feel like this is going to be a good move for my portfolio and have spent a lot of time contemplating the move.
Is there anything I missed? Any negatives I am not seeing?
